The 24 Préludes represent what must be the best known cycle of pieces by the Impressionist composer Claude Debussy. The compositions are alive with magic, poetry and depiction in sound.No pianist can approach the demands of their composer more closely than Friedrich Gulda; Debussy’s instruction “to breathe with the pedal” is something that Gulda, alone among pianists, has mastered to perfection. The pianist’s instinctive sense of touch draws from the works of Debussy just what the composer wished: loud sections are thundered forth, while pianissimo passages sound so intimate and close at hand that one’s own heartbeat sounds like the summons of an imperious drum. To do justice to this perfection, the recording is also released in full-spectrum sound quality on audiophile vinyl.
